


In These Waters

by HollyWasRed



Category: Original Work
Genre: Birth, Breeding, Cervix Penetration, Eggs, Falling In Love, If You Squint - Freeform, Intersex, Interspecies Romance, M/M, Mild Angst, Mildly correct biology with a lot of made up shit because that's more fun, Minor Violence, Moray Eels, Oviposition, Porn With Plot, Pregnancy, Shark Babies, Teratophilia, Thresher Shark, Weird Biology, Why isn't that a bloody tag yet!?, live birth, merfolk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:27:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27111199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyWasRed/pseuds/HollyWasRed
Summary: Silas might be a breeder among merfolk, but his rare species and predatory nature has kept most other mer away. That is until someone with the same two problems comes along and helps everything make a lot more sense.
Relationships: Silas (Original Character) / Marinus (Original Character)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 246





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [To the Victor Go the Spoils](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13129995) by [teicakes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teicakes/pseuds/teicakes). 



> MARINE BIOLOGISTS, LOOK AWAY NOW. This is some entirely self-indulgent crap and I regret nothing. I actually do have some facts in here though if you know what to look for. The snowflake moray eel is a real thing and it's beautiful. The thresher shark really does have a tail that it uses as a whip and is as long as its body. Did you know its tail can create the force of around 50mph being shoved at you? Nice. Also, whereas some sharks straight up lay eggs out in the ocean, others do it...somewhat differently.
> 
> The archive will not let me put the entire series this is inspired by for some reason, and simply wants just the one work. But that's not fair or the case, so I want to mention that this is inspired by That Fucky Mer AU by teicakes - https://archiveofourown.org/series/919503

The warm waters of the Indo-Pacific pushed pleasant currents over the reefs nearer the surface, failing to get much further below the behemoth of corals that dominated this particular strip of ocean. It was a huge expanse of water, stretching from a large portion of the Pacific, headed west over Indonesia and northern Australia before encapsulating the tropical seas of India. Blue for miles and abundant with life, Silas couldn’t be more pleased with the part of the great blue he called home. Drifting over exotic anemones and strangely shaped rocks, Silas watched scores of different coloured fish swim together in perfect synchronisation. He often found himself entranced by their expertly timed movements and bright colours and today was no different.

Moving his tail from side to side, he felt the sun come out behind the clouds above, streaming rays of light through the waves. Some fish hesitated by him, as if taking a closer look, unsure of what to make of him.

He knew he looked different, even to normal fish. His body was pale, almost white. From his waist and down was a tapered tail, marking him a species of eel merfolk that was patched with strategically placed splotches of black with two yellow spots in their centres. Between the black patches themselves, further speckles of black adorned his body, the pattern as unique as fingerprints. All his markings shifted onto Silas’ dorsal fin that grew from the middle of his back and ended at the tip of his tail. The rest of his pale skin was mostly unmarked, just some smaller splashes of black freckles here and there.

It was a warm day, so Silas found himself lingering near the surface, bathing himself in the warmth of the sun in the sky above the ocean’s surface. He would forever be fascinated at just how far its rays went before they withered away into nothing.

As he swam, Silas eyed the coral reefs beneath him. It was abound with fish of bright colours, they intertwined with one another in a dance as old as time itself. Their scales reflected the light, flashes of colour into his eyes as Silas watched them from above.

It was the mating season.

A sandy roll of a dune dropped off suddenly into deeper waters, rocky outcroppings jutting outwards and providing a great place to dive down into and explore. Silas did just that, a shift of his tail and he was further beneath the waves and heading into an elegant archway of a rock. It was large enough that he would fit through despite his wider hips, but small enough that he would be hidden from anything that swam above. His unusual colouration blending in with his surroundings, Silas pondered the strange scents he could smell on the currents. 

To his species, no matter what breed of eel, they did not have exclusive mating seasons that sent them crazy looking for each other. Whereas nearly every other species had a cycle of when to procreate, eels did not and it left Silas on the side-lines as he avoided getting in anyone’s way during this time of year. He was a breeder himself, equipped with all the necessary parts for bringing little merfolk into the world, but he was unusual among them.

Firstly, he was, by all intents and purposes, a predator. He didn’t feed from the corals or vegetation and instead he actively hunted crabs and other shellfish, smaller fish and even the occasional octopus or squid that ventured into his path while hunting. A predatory breeder was very unheard of in the ocean.

Secondly, he was rare, even among his kind. Eels among merfolk were rare by themselves but a snowflake moray eel? Practically unheard of. As a result, Silas had found himself without a proper mate in his life, nobody to turn to when he wanted comfort and no young to call his own. It wasn’t that he didn’t have friends and he had even had the occasional “fling”, but the latter of those things had never had anything come of it. It had all been to relieve sexual tension. Silas had begun to assume that there was something wrong with him. Other merfolk didn’t exactly avoid him, but they didn’t enthusiastically choose to make contact with him either. It had left him in a strange no-mer-land that he was sure not many other types of mer had been in.

Stopping to rest for a moment underneath the edge of a rocky outcrop, Silas spotted a shoal of yellowtail grunt fish darting sharply away from something that had them startled. Their erratic movement causing some of the reef fish below to mirror their quick effort in getting out of the way of whatever it was that had them so surprised. A shadow over the reef confirmed Silas’ suspicion that something big and untoward was in the area and a moment later, he looked up to observe what it was.

Tides behold, it was a _mershark._

And not just any type of mershark; a thresher shark. Silas watched as the slow, steady and graceful movement of the shark above him let the currents do most of the work. His upper body pale and somewhat silver, his musculature evident even from Silas’ awkward position. Powerful arms and a strong back tapered down into a narrow waist where his tail began, matching the silver-esque colouring that he had. His impressive tail, comprised mostly of his fluke which was as easily as long as his body, gently swayed from left to right as he moved calmly through the open water. Silas gaped, watching the mysterious mer as he appeared uninterested in the fish panicking below him and instead, seemed to be in no sort of hurry as he lazily let the ocean guide him towards wherever his destination lie.

Silas would be lying if he said he hadn’t seen the mershark before and thought him astounding. Mersharks were perhaps more common than his kind, but they were rare in their own way, rarely pairing with anyone outside of their own species and rumoured to be violent and aggressive partners to those who dared court them. Silas had seen a few mersharks in his life, thinking over the few things he knew about them.

The larger species such as whale sharks, tended to stick to their own kind due to their size. Naturally hostile types such as the great white, bull sharks and tiger sharks also stuck to their own kind as they were the only ones able to deal with such a creature and the smaller, less know sharks such as the nurse sharks or lemon sharks were rarely seen for being “shy” and “fussy” of all things. Silas had heard of those in the ocean breeding with a mershark, but it wasn’t a common occurrence, even less so a cross-breeding between species, but not impossible like so many other things in the deep blue.

Oh yes, Silas had seen this thresher before. He was too distinctive to miss, and since he had left his home in the waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands, Silas had seen the mershark on several occasions minding his own business. Perhaps he lived out here too?

Silas rested his head on his folded arms as he watched the fluid and effortless movement of the shark. What would it be like to breed with one? He could only imagine. He knew sharks mostly produced eggs. Many required a host to lay in, to look after the eggs as they developed in their early stages before they laid the eggs out in the world and waited for them to hatch, whereas others had the eggs remain inside them until they hatched and were born as live young. He wondered what the thresher would do, chewing on his bottom lip as he realised he didn’t actually know.

Just when he thought the shark would pass overhead without distraction, he turned as sharply and swiftly as the shoal of fish had done just moments ago, his body almost bending in half with the action in an impressive display of flexibility. More fish scattered despite the lack of threat he was giving off, Silas could sense his relaxed state even from his hidden position far below. He watched the shark with rapt interest, wondering what it was he was doing until he dove down onto the reef, scanning over it as if he were searching for something.

Silas froze, his heartbeat quickening against his will. The stranger was quickly gaining on his location and if he didn’t move _now_ he would surely be found. Just as Silas began backing himself up through the rocky outcropping the same way he had come in, blue-green eyes locked onto his own pale yellow. 

“I thought I smelt something different in the ocean today,” A deep voice emanated from the strange mer, carrying on the currents to Silas as he fought back his fear of being caught. Although he was a predator himself, he knew he was no match for a shark if they turned on him now. “Where are you going? Come out, I won’t hurt you.” The shark gestured towards him but Silas, unable to find his voice, shook his head and continued to reverse.

The shark simply moved to the other side where Silas had entered from. “You can’t stay in there forever.” He was right of course, but it didn’t make Silas feel any better with how he found himself cornered. The mer held one hand up by his head, the other over his chest, over his heart. “I promise I won’t hurt you, little eel. Let me see you.”

 _Little eel._ Cocky bastard, Silas thought. Yielding, he slowly pulled himself out of the shelter that the crevice provided and into the light of the midday sun that pierced the waters. 

“Well, you’ve seen me, what do you want?” Silas wondered how the merfolk he had heard breeding with a shark had done it. He felt very intimated despite the lack of threat and decided it was simply down to the stranger’s unique appearance. His eyes were a strange mix of the brightest tropical blue and the emerald green found in inland brackish waters, his skin although not as pale as Silas’ still held a silvery sheen that reflected some of the light. Webbing between his fingers and reaching off the ends of his elbows matched that of his pelvic fins, thick and muscular. He was handsome, Silas would give him that, in an entrancing kind of way that made it hard for him to look elsewhere. 

The other mer ignored his question. “Oh my, not just any eel, a snowflake moray. I can’t say I have seen one of your kind since I was just a pup in the shadow of my elders.” He came closer still, just an arm’s length away and moving in a slow circle around Silas. “What are you doing out here all by yourself, hmm?” His tantalising voice causing a slight shiver to run down Silas’ spine to the tip of his tail.

“I happen to live here.” Silas stood his ground, puffing up his chest a little. He had heard that you shouldn’t show any fear in the face of a mershark.

“Lucky of you to have such a nice piece of the ocean to reside in,” the stranger exclaimed, looking around him. When his eyes focused back on Silas, they roamed over his body, up and down. But Silas didn’t see a judgemental look in his eyes, only admiration. “My name is Marinus.” The shark’s voice dropped an octave lower and he looked at Silas expectantly. It took a few seconds to realise he was waiting for his name in return.

“Silas.”

“Silas,” Marinus tasted his name on his tongue. “I like that.” He looked behind him again, out into the blue of the ocean. “Will you swim with me, Silas?”

Silas swallowed, nervousness fluttering in his stomach like newborn fry. He was being courted by this shark, the premise to what many had initially wanted him for but what none had ever seen through all the way. He was unsure if Marinus would be the same and he would forever be a plaything to other mers, or finally be able to act in the way he was ultimately born for.

Realising Marinus was still patiently waiting for him to respond, all Silas could do was nod as his voice escaped him. The shark then proceeded to turn back on himself and with a flick of his elongated caudal fin, was swimming away from Silas with the expectation for him to follow. Silas took only a couple of moments to admire the length of that tail before he was following, swimming next to Marinus’ side. Although Silas couldn’t call himself an expert of shark biology, he knew that slender tail was more than just for show, it was a weapon. Used as a whip to stun their prey, thresher sharks could move as fast as the lightning struck the horizon to completely stun whatever it was they were hunting. He had even heard the elaborate rumour that depending on the size of their prey, their tail could slice it in half.

As if their teeth weren’t bad enough…

Silas felt his heartbeat quicken when he realised Marinus had been careful to not reveal his own. Just what was Silas getting himself in to?

Following the mershark out into the open ocean had him further unsettled; he was a creature that used the corals and reefs to his advantage. Being so exposed had him on edge, and what’s more, Marinus could sense it.

“What’s wrong, little eel?” He asked, stopping to turn and regard Silas with his strange blue-green eyes.

“N-nothing!” 

“Oh? Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” Silas forced down his nervousness to face his new acquaintance with as much confidence as he could muster. He spared a glace back towards the reefs. “But where are we going?”

“Nowhere particular, just for a swim.” Marinus smiled at him, handsome face tilting in a gesture of innocence, but Silas wasn’t fooled. Without waiting for a reply, the mershark turned once more, again catching Silas’ eye with his elegant movements through the water.

Feeling silly not to follow further, Silas did, keeping a little distance back until Marinus had led them to the edge of a kelp forest. He stopped suddenly, scanning the sandy floor with focused eyes until suddenly, he spied what he was after. Silas watched as Marinus swum directly downwards, almost underneath him as he came to the edge of a small outcropping of sand. There was something about it that was out of place, it jutted out awkwardly with jagged edges and Silas suddenly realised it was a partially concealed clam. It was large, much larger than what Silas would look for as it was snapped firmly shut. He wasn’t strong enough to force the shells open himself, but as it turned out, Marinus was.

Wrenching the mouth of the clam apart like it cost him no effort whatsoever, Marinus pulled the centre of it free, the juicy meat held in one hand while he released the shell and swam back up to face Silas, drawing near as he offered the meat.

“Snowflake morays favour shellfish, do they not?” Marinus held out the clam meat like the offering it was. With that stated, Silas couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased at the revelation. Taking the offering, he relaxed a little and tore a piece of the clam off, handing back to Marinus. The corner of his mouth twitched as he took it, deciding to put the entire piece in his mouth and for a split second, Silas saw the serrated sharp teeth that Marinus had.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel the gut-wrenching fear that he thought he would. Silas had pointed teeth of his own and although they paled in comparison to a shark’s, Marinus had presented him with a gift. It was another step of the courtship process and further proved to Silas that Marinus wanted to breed with him.

The shark watched as Silas finished the clam. “Good?” He asked, and Silas nodded, but his eyes narrowed. “Why are you so nervous? I’m really not going to hurt you.”

Silas didn’t think he looked nervous, but perhaps his scent had betrayed him. “I’ve just never met a mershark.” 

Marinus shook his head. “Oh, that I could tell already, but it’s not just that.” He came the closest he had done so far, studying Silas’ face as one hand came to caress his cheek. “Talk to me, little eel. Tell me what you want.” Voice dropping lower like it had done before they began swimming together, Silas felt himself flush, colour rushing to his cheeks. With his pale colouring, it was painfully obvious, but Marinus simply smiled.

“I’ve just…never done this before.” When Marinus just tilted his head in question, Silas elaborated. “I mean, I’ve done _this_ before but not…I’ve been with others, I’ve just never…I’ve never been bred.” Genuinely ashamed of his own declaration, Silas looked down, hands twisting together. Marinus said nothing and Silas forced back the rising imminent feeling of abandonment that he was sure he was about to experience. “I’m unusual, you must already know that. It puts others off.”

When he looked back up, he was met with a neutral face, but understanding eyes. “Well, more their loss.” Marinus replied, speaking of the other merfolk who had turned Silas down in the long run. With the one hand he had used to caress his cheek with, he brought it back up to do so again while the other trailed down his chest, gracing over one nipple and causing Silas to shudder. His entire nether region clenched, mating instincts twitching to life.

“I-is that what you want me for?” He whispered, “You want to breed me?”

Marinus smiled without showing his teeth. “Oh yes, pretty thing.” The hand on his chest left pimpled skin as they grazed further down, finally coming to scratch delicate marks underneath his navel. “If you’ll let me, I can give you what you want.” He drew so close to Silas, face just inches apart. When he leaned closer still, Silas was struck with the thought that Marinus was about to kiss him, but instead he came to whisper directly into his ear. That was good, only permanently mated pairs kissed, not fleeting partners, although a tiny part of Silas wished Marinus had pressed his soft looking lips to his own. “I can fill you up,” he continued, “I need someone strong to care for my young, do you think that could be you?”

 _“Yes.”_ Silas spoke without hesitating, eyes closing as he rejoiced in the pleasant shiver down his spine and the growing wetness in his hidden folds. Marinus pulled back a little, still close enough that Silas’ entire field of vision was nothing but an attractive face, silvery hair shifting in the currents.

The hand resting below his navel, positioned over where his womb was located deep inside him, moved further down. Silas sucked in a breath of water as Marinus boldly touched the slit of his opening. Tides, how was it possible to be this aroused already? Marinus had hardly even done anything and Silas was ready to surrender. Mentally slapping himself, he forced his eyes to look around. They were technically still in open water, just the gentle swaying of the kelp forest behind Marinus the only other source of movement. It was as if all other life had cleared out when the thresher had arrived.

“Not here,” Silas pleaded. “It’s too open.”

“Of course,” Marinus agreed, “Follow me.” He let his barely there touch linger for just a moment longer before finally ceasing it, moving back to swim into the kelp forest.

This time, Silas didn’t hesitate to move and he eagerly, perhaps a little too eagerly although he wouldn’t admit that to himself, followed Marinus through the kelp until it parted enough to reveal the hollowed entrance of a cave. Rising from the rolling sand dunes that made the kelp seem tall enough to poke the ocean’s surface far above, Silas was, for a moment, in awe of the beauty of it. The kelp’s mixed colours of light green grew into a dark brown and the sun pushed the patterns of colour onto the sand itself. Marinus had paused at the entrance of his home, smiling back at Silas, allowing him the moment to take it all in.

With one flick of his tail, he moved inside the entrance, one finger curling enticingly for Silas to follow suit. This was it, if Silas went in there, he would most likely not be coming out the same way he went in.

Sucking in another breath and pushing it out as hard he could, Silas swam past the bubbles he created, into the darkness of the cave.

To his surprise, it didn’t sink into the ground as deep as he thought. He swam in a relatively straight line for several metres before the passage opened up to a large space, wide enough for Marinus and his long tail to turn around comfortably. The cave, although rocky and lined with the plant life that preferred near permanent shade, was more of an elaborate hole in the ground. Light filtered through small gaps above, creating little windows of blue into the ocean. Marinus had collected human artifacts over the years and they were all carefully and strategically placed on ledges of the walls that made up his cave. Silas couldn’t begin to name what they were, hardly having anything like that in his own little home, and for an exciting few seconds, he wondered if he would have the chance to learn to name each one with the time he would spend here carrying Marinus’ young.

That realisation led to even more things he didn’t know about sharks…

“Your home is lovely,” he began, earning a head inclination of gratitude from the shark before him as he drifted closer. “So um…how does this work?” He winced at how awkward he sounded, but hoped that since the revelation that he had never been bred before, that Marinus would understand and indulge him. To his amazement, the handsome creature did.

“We are all quite different, us mersharks, but as for myself? My young need a mother that is not only strong enough to carry them, but take care of them when they’re born. My eggs take only a few weeks to mature, but when the young hatch, they are not born straight away. They take a further week or so before they’re ready to be born.” So that answered Silas’ wondering on the live birth vs eggs situation, but there was still one other thing he wanted to know but before he could ask, Marinus was speaking again. “You would stay here. I do not let my partners fend for themselves and my young the moment insemination has taken place. Some sharks might do so, but not I. That is not my way.”

Silas felt himself relax. He knew some breeders became totally independent after they were claimed by a mate, left to continue their lives as normal and while caring for the young by themselves. He was _so_ glad that for his first time, he would not be one of those.

Marinus came closer to Silas, one hand taking hold of his hip while the other cupped his cheek again. “I want you, pretty eel.” He whispered, the hand on his hip inching towards his opening once more, but with increased pressure than last time. “Will you let me have you?”

Silas pushed into the touch of Marinus’ hand, one finger sliding smoothly into his opening and making him gasp in delight. Marinus leaned in, his face against Silas’ neck as a hot smooth tongue licked over his gills. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

“Yes,” Silas whispered back to him. “Please.” With his consent confirmed, Marinus wasted no more time. He pulled Silas to him, his hips flush against his own and the action trapping his hand between them. Silas felt long fingers reach deep inside him, rubbing against his walls and making him clench down hard. It felt exquisite, but it wasn’t enough, not even when Marinus added a second, then a third finger. Silas felt his mating instincts ignite under the surprisingly gentle touch that the shark was giving him in his most delicate areas, contrasting to the sensation of razor teeth grazing over his collarbone, making him shudder.

Marinus had guided Silas to almost lay on his back on the cave’s sand covered floor, the soft touch of seagrass around him making it comfortable and relaxed. Silas tilted his head back as he rutted into Marinus’ fingers, then chancing a glance down to see them buried to the base. Just beyond, down below at the mershark’s dip between his hips, he spied the slit that had parted to make way for his cock.

Thick, long and a neutral dark grey in colour, it kept growing in size until Silas was sure it was as long as his forearm. How was that supposed to fit inside him? He could only assume his body would know what to do. Marinus smirked at Silas’ whimper that managed to escape his lips as he withdrew his fingers, taking his cock in one hand and brushing the flared head against the entrance that was begging to be filled. Silas writhed in pleasure, his slit opening and closing around nothing.

“Are you ready, Silas?” The husky utterance of his name had Silas nodding with his eyes fixated on the member against his hole. It had been a long time since he had been with someone and to _finally_ have someone interested in him enough to properly breed him had him feeling embarrassingly eager. “Are you sure?” Marinus asked again, his voice holding a teasing edge that made it clear he was toying with him. The realisation he was perhaps both checking and playing with him had Silas feeling so incredibly lucky and cared for, he groaned in his frustration to be filled.

“Yes! Tides, come on. I’m ready.” He tried to push his hips up to spear himself on the shark’s huge cock. “Fuck me.” He brought his lips to Marinus’ ear to say the demand straight in it, getting the message across.

It seemed to work and pulling back, pinning Silas to the ground underneath them, Marinus nudged the head of his cock inside. Pleasure ripped through Silas and he cried out, the sensation of being filled up making him see white behind his closed eyelids. For a moment, it hurt as inch by slow inch Marinus sheathed himself inside until the tip of his cock pressed against the gateway to Silas’ womb. The eel quivered, his cervix doing the same as he adjusted to the strange feeling. Nothing and nobody had ever been this far inside him.

A fleeting burning sensation rippled through Silas as he felt the tip of that huge cock kiss the entryway of his deepest regions. He expected it to sting, but he wasn’t prepared for the rapid switch to pleasure. Marinus didn’t seem to notice his reaction, instead focusing his hips in a very precise way that kept the pressure on his cervix a constant thing. It had Silas crying out, making wordless sounds to the shark above him, inside him. His insides clamped down as hard as they could, he didn’t even have to make himself do it. A pleased groan emanated in the cave and Silas grinned at the delightful sound, feeling it in Marinus’ chest as the shark pulled Silas flush to him.

A firm grip on his hips kept him still but it wasn’t truly needed, Silas was more than happy to lay there and take what was being given to him. He felt one hand suddenly move from his hip and down to his slit, feeling along the sides of it that was pushed wide around the thick cock undulating inside him.

“Can you feel that?” Marinus whispered, his hand lifting to press under Silas’ navel. “I’m right here, so far inside.” His statement made Silas groan in response, barely able to form words. The pleasure was surging like a riptide, building with each drag and press of Marinus’ cock. He was by far, the biggest that Silas had ever taken – how would anything measure up again after this?

He was _so close_ to being bred, his womb soon to be filled. A second passed Silas and he realised he had no idea how many eggs Marinus actually had.

But at that moment, it didn’t matter, not when he felt the heavy press of one at his entrance. Silas was so caught up in the sensation of being _full_ that he hadn’t notice the first egg making its way down until his body was reacting to it, initially unsure of what to do until it was pressing past his rim, up his channel and making itself known to his deepest part.

Silas gasped, throwing his head back in the mix of sensations of sharp teeth at his collarbone again and heavy pressure on his cervix. He bore down against it, a cry of pleasure breaking his lips and he came without warning, the hot pleasure bursting forth as the first egg slipped past his cervix and into his womb. 

It fell with a soft _thud_ inside him, the foreign weight of it settling deep and still before the pressure of a second became known. This time, through his haze, Silas managed to look down to watch. The second egg was easily large as his two hands fisted together and he was amazed as to how his body opened up to accept it.

When the second egg cleared his cervix and settled alongside its sibling inside him, Silas’ instincts took over, welcoming the egg as if it had always been.

A third egg pushed its way inside and Silas felt Marinus sigh against him, the mershark’s face buried in the crook of his neck and laving kisses up the side of it, across his gills. It was a surprisingly tender gesture for such a creature and it had Silas’ mind reeling with why he was doing it.

“You’re doing so well,” He heard Marinus whisper. “For your first time, you just open up and take them perfectly.”

“How…” Silas had to take a deep breath through the pleasure building itself for a second time. “How many do you have?” 

“It’s been a while for me, so I have at least four. Perhaps even five.” Marinus looked up to regard Silas, his face close, his nose almost touching his own. “Do you think you can take more?” Silas nodded without thinking about the question too much. The eggs were large and took up quite a bit of room inside him. His stomach was rounded and he was no longer able to see where he was connected to his partner.

But surely he had room for just two more?

Marinus regarded him for a moment longer before he continued in his movements, the heavy press of a fourth egg splitting Silas wide around the cock inside him and he revelled in the feeling of the egg travelling further in. He came again the moment he felt it slip past his cervix, hardly having any resistance at all. Crying his pleasure out in a multitude of bubbles into the cave, he was sure he passed out with the overwhelming sensation of it all, the feeling of strong arms enveloping him the last thing he felt as Silas closed his eyes and retreated into the bliss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Successfully bred, Silas wonders that Marinus might be after something else other than offspring. Going off by himself to figure it out, he meets what he feared mersharks were supposed to be like all along.

The smell of freshly caught crab roused Silas to wakefulness, pulling him from the embrace of a pleasurably deep sleep. He was lying on his side on a bed of soft sand and equally smooth seagrass but when he tried to sit up, he found it difficult. He did a double take, jaw gaping in his own surprise as the sight of his belly, rounded and full.

Oh that’s right, the thresher shark had bred him. And he was still alive after it all.

Silas couldn’t even begin to compare himself to any other creature he resembled in that moment, except for once spying a manatee in the shallows of a journey to the West African coast, the sea cow had been enormous and round with calf.

Okay, so he wasn’t _quite_ as large as that, but he was big enough and despite the time he had been asleep, he still felt ridiculously tired. His body was obviously still hard a work fertilising the eggs inside him and was sapping all his energy until it had finished doing what it had been born to do.

“Welcome back.” A gentle but deep voice sounded loud in the still quiet of the cave and Silas turned to follow it, eyes locking with the beautiful blue-green of Marinus the mershark. “You’ve been asleep for the best part of a day.” Silas nodded, unsurprised. But suddenly, embarrassment ripped through him. He recalled the way he had demanded to be fucked and filled up, moaning and squirming on the shark’s cock and the ending result was now deep inside him. He was bred, like he had always wanted to be. Now what was he supposed to do?

He had heard more than a few stories over the years of different species’ way of breeding. Some stayed with their partners, others were chased away once they had the eggs they wanted and others parted on mutual terms to continue their lives as if nothing had happened and the other a single parent. He knew sharks weren’t particularly maternal, but Silas quickly came to the decision he didn’t want to be alone for his first time. Marinus had been considerate enough so far and as Silas watched him de-shell the spider crab he had caught, he wondered what he should do. Did the shark want him to leave? It didn’t appear that way as he focused on pulling the juicy meat free from the confines of a hard shell.

Silas sat in stunned silence as Marinus offered him the main body of the crab but when he didn’t immediately take it despite it being one of his favourites, the mershark faltered. “Are you alright?” He asked, drifting closer.

“Yes…I’m fine.” Silas managed to sit upright, his tail curled sideways underneath him. “Do you…umm…do you want me to leave?” He asked the last part in a rush of words and for a moment, he wasn’t sure Marinus had understood him, but then the shark frowned.

“Leave? Why would I want you to leave?”

“Well…I heard some sharks do that?” Silas wasn’t sure why he phrased it like a question but it certainly came out that way.

“And where did you hear that?”

“From other breeders.”

“Huh.” Marinus tilted his head, his eyes looking out the entrance to his home. “Do you want to leave?”

Silas slowly shook his head as those piercing eyes came to look at him again. “No, I don’t want to go.”

“Then don’t. I will not keep you here against your will, so if you want to leave, you can. But at the same time, I would very much like to see this through with you. It’s just as I said right before we did this.” He had drawn close enough that his free hand came to caress the heavy roundness of Silas’ stomach. “I know you will be good at this in the long run and I want to see that.”

“You sound so sure.” Silas mused.

“Of course I’m sure. Sharks are an excellent judge of character after all. I’ve never chosen a poor mate.” The classical haughty arrogance of Marinus’ kind that Silas had heard about had him laughing a little, the clenching of his abdominal muscles causing the eggs to shift slightly. Silas gasped, one hand coming to rest underneath his navel to feel them.

“How many are there? Four?” He remembered the four going in but…

“Five,” Marinus corrected. “You were so blissed out that it’s possible you didn’t notice the fifth being laid.”

“Oh…right.” Silas felt himself flush and Marinus saw it.

“Don’t be shy about it, pretty eel.” His hand came up to caress Silas’ cheek. “You were perfect.”

With that being said and causing a heavy warmth to bloom in his stomach that had nothing to do with the eggs, Silas took the offered crab.

***

The days quickly turned into weeks and Silas had learned a lot about sharks and breeding in general. He was correct in the knowledge that as a breeder and despite this being his first time, his body knew what to do. He instinctively knew how to swim despite the top heaviness he felt, hips widening a little to accommodate the young inside him.

Marinus had explained plenty, showing off his past experience that only had Silas feeling the tiniest bit jealous. The eggs would grow a little inside him as the pups formed before they would finally hatch in several weeks’ time. Once hatched, Marinus assured him they would _not_ try to eat each other like Silas had heard some shark young did, but warned him they would be quite active inside him. Once born, they would be remarkably independent.

“It may be difficult, but try not to get too attached.” Marinus warned. “Although they will always hold you in their hearts, they won’t stick around for very long.” It turned out that was the way for all sharks. Silas couldn’t say how he would deal with that until the time came.

Currently, his companion was helping him move several things over from his much smaller cave into Marinus’ much larger one. He had felt a little shy about revealing his place of domain, but once again, Marinus had held no judgement in his eyes or tone of voice, only curiosity and encouragement. In fact, he had been extremely pleased that Silas had agreed to move in, albeit temporarily. The eel had to frequently remind himself that this was a short-term agreement.

Each day, Marinus went hunting, leaving Silas alone to tend to himself. He would tidy the cave of anemones and rocks that drifted in, sometimes the occasional wandering starfish, clean and rearrange the strange assortment of human items that Marinus had collected and even leave the cave to patrol the area around the entrance. He was still a predatory creature of the sea, and his instincts to protect what was now his was stronger than ever.

News quickly got out among the locals that the cave mostly hidden by kelp at the edge of the reef was occupied by not one, but two predators, even though one was heavy with eggs, there wasn’t a creature around that dared come too close.

Nearly every day, Marinus did something to surprise Silas and it was beginning to make him wonder if absolutely everything he had ever heard about mersharks had been false. On days he felt energetic enough to visit the reef and speak with those he knew, they were shocked to discover who he had mated with.

_You did what with who? Did he hurt you? I heard the babies eat each other and then eat their way out of you! Are you sure their father won’t eat actually eat you? Are you being kept in that cave by force?_

It saddened Silas to hear and be asked nothing but negatives instead of finally being praised for what he was meant to do. Marinus had been nothing but nice to him, but as more merfolk asked him bizarre and somewhat offensive questions, he couldn’t hide his mood as it turned sour. He knew the other merfolk were only asking him these things out of worry and not because they were intentionally being rude, but it bothered him nonetheless.

As he swam slowly back to their shared cave, a sling made from a ship’s sails over one shoulder that housed a few handy tools Silas favoured, his mind turned over just what it was he had gotten himself in to.

Marinus was pleasant to be around; he was polite and well spoken, had clearly been educated in how to deal with other merfolk and learn respect. He was extremely good looking, strong, lightning quick at a moment’s notice and experienced in taking care of a mate. He was all the things any breeder could want and as Silas got to know him, he also discovered things on a personal level that had him beyond surprised; Silas would both fall asleep and wake up to find Marinus had his arms wrapped around Silas’ body, long caudal fin curled around the tip of his own tail. He would massage away the aches in Silas’ hips and lower back after a long day which often led to sex; Silas screaming his pleasure so loud he was sure the entire Indo-Pacific would have heard him. Marinus always brought him breakfast, dinner and several snacks throughout the day as he found his hunger increasing. He clearly had some knowledge of eels, even of Silas’ rare breed, as he knew he preferred shellfish and crustaceans to eat over actual fish.

Marinus was almost being _too nice_ and to top it all off, Silas thought him surprisingly touchy-feely, especially after sex or as they woke up together in the morning. It sent his mind swirling with the possibilities of what Marinus meant with his kisses over his neck and gills. Were all sharks like that? Was it just this shark? Silas didn’t know if it was his total lack of experience making him feel things he probably shouldn’t, or if Marinus was actually trying to make Silas fall for him.

As he arrived back at the cave, watching Marinus just disappear inside it, he realised with a jolt that if this mershark was attempting the latter of his two musings, it was working. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this, their coupling was nothing but a natural occurrence in the world of mer. Mated pairs were very few and far between and were always with the same species. Everything that Silas had heard about two different species of mer staying together were just rumours and falsehoods.

Right?

Swimming slowly into the cave, Silas watched as Marinus lowered his own sail bag to the ground, emptying out the contents that for once, were not food but shiny silver sticks, each shaped differently at one end and as long as Silas’ palm. Marinus turned a couple of them over with fascination lighting up his face before he noticed Silas hesitating at the edge of the open space.

“Hey,” he murmured. “Come over here, I want to show you something.” Silas swallowed, feeling a little nervous as made his way over. He had to ask Marinus what he wanted from him, he had to be honest. It was the least he could do since Marinus had been nothing but honest with him so far.

“What are these?” Silas questioned as he took the offered implement. It was slightly heavy, with a tapered end that splayed into three nimble pointy ends.

“It’s a human creation, they use it to eat.”

“They don’t eat with their hands?” Silas raised a brow.

“Probably with some foods, but they mostly use these.” Marinus picked up two different tools that looked similar, yet one pooled into a small bowl and the other was curved and clearly made for cutting things.

“They use these too?” 

“They do.” The mershark nodded.

“How do you know all this?” Silas had never even seen a human before, everything he knew, which was very little, was second-hand knowledge passed to him from stories and legends.

Marinus twisted in place a little, showing off his lower back. A faded old scar adorned it, twisting over his right hip and onto the small of his back. Silas had first felt it under his fingers in their more _heated_ moments before he had physically seen it.

“A close encounter when I was younger.” Marinus shrugged despite the fact it had looked as though it had gone deep. “I saw enough to sate my curiosity for this lifetime.” He smirked at Silas, but it quickly faltered when he saw the expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

Silas drew in another breath and decided to just come right out and ask. “Are all sharks like you? Are they all massive flirts or is it just you?”

“Come again?” Marinus sat back and for the first time since they had met, Silas saw what displeased looked like. The vindictive side of Silas felt satisfied at the lack of smugness on the shark’s face. Finally!

“I get you’re being nice to me because of this -” Silas pointed to his midsection which at that moment the babies chose to shift in their eggs and make him jerk back. It was the first time he had felt them that way. Marinus’ reaction was instant, reaching for Silas but the eel moved even further away. “Don’t! I’m fine.”

“Silas, are you truly alright?”

“Yes!” He snapped, making Marinus wince a little. “I just want to know why you’re being like this.”

“Like what? What are you talking about?”

“I just feel like you’re the only one getting something out of this. You’re this big bad shark who’s seen it all and I’m just…me.” Oh, this was going terribly. Nothing Silas wanted to say was coming out properly and he realised everything had sounded better in his head. Maybe it should have just stayed that way and he never should have opened his big mouth to begin with.

“Silas,” he heard Marinus almost whisper his name. “Where is this coming from? You’re a breeder, isn’t this what you want too?”

Anger flickered under his skin, making sharp teeth clench together. 

“No Marinus, just because that’s what I am doesn’t mean there isn’t anything else.” Silas turned towards the cave entrance, the most forceful flick of his tail that he could manage pushing him quicker out the cave. He heard Marinus calling after him, heard him shout something about nightfall incoming but he ignored it, instead swimming as fast as his top heavy body would allow.

He was being stupid, picking at things that weren’t there. Marinus was just being nice, was doing his duty and this was most definitely just his personality. He was kind and caring and Silas was damn lucky to have him for his first time. Silas feeling this way could easily be chalked up to his naïveté with having a mate, even though it was temporary. Tides, would his next time be this difficult? Was he just being clingy and emotional?

Silas swam until the smell of the sea cave and shark was long behind him. The waters had grown dark as the night took over from the day, the reef becoming sparse below him as he left the area and turned into an inky blackness as the sea floor dropped away into nothing. Silas paused, floating as still as he could and finally realising just how quiet it had become. The empty space that was the depths of the ocean looked so different at night, the contrast so stark it had an unsettling feeling swell in Silas’ chest. Deep inside him, one of the pups shifted in their egg, making its nearest sibling do the same and press against his right side. Without thinking about the action, he lifted one hand to rest against the strange feeling. He couldn’t panic at his own stupidity, he was a grown mer for tides’ sake.

Silas turned around, began to swim the way he had come at the most reasonable pace he could manage to quell the uneasiness he felt, yet it amplified when a large dark shape shifted in the mass that was the deep blue. The action caught his eye, almost making him freeze in place before he remembered that would be beyond idiotic and he should instead keep going. It could have been anything, another mer, a whale, some shadow cast by the lingering light above the surface. However, Silas was pretty deep down and when he spared a quick glance above, he could barely see the surface of the ocean anymore…so what was it?

More importantly, where was he?

The reef had reappeared as Silas had gone back, but none of it looked familiar. The rocks were the wrong shape, the coral a different colour as it began to glow its bioluminescence. The nocturnal fish were different too. Silas stopped against a rock, breathing becoming heavier as the rising panic he was fighting refused to back down. At this rate, it would win.

The shape he thought and hoped he had imagined moved again, this time much closer. The shadow moved over the reef to his left, keeping Silas in his place until it finally revealed what it was.

Another mershark glided over the corals, tail swaying gently from left to right with the grace only a shark could manage, no matter their size. Silas felt his heart sink when he saw it wasn’t Marinus, but a stranger. A bull shark.

Studying the stranger as quickly as he could, Silas couldn’t help but notice he easily had double the muscle that Marinus had; arms and back thick with it, bunching under dark grey skin. He had no hair on his head like himself or his partner did, instead it was the same colour as the rest of him, strange pale yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. Pointed ears that fanned out into fins twitched as he spotted Silas, a slow grin crept onto his face in the most unpleasant way to reveal at least two rows of jagged teeth on both his upper and lower jaw. The smile was too wide, showed too many of those teeth and made his face look as if he could literally split open his maw at a moment’s notice.

He was, for lack of a better word, ugly. Nothing like the handsome elegance of Marinus was in this shark. Only the classic fearsome look that Silas mistakenly believed they all had and stupidly hoped he would never see. This mer was easily as long as Marinus but instead of lithe caudal fin, the bull shark was all body and hulking mass. Silas swallowed hard, puffed up his chest a little and tried his best not to feel as afraid as he worried he might look.

“Oh my, an eel of all things over my reef,” the mer chuckled darkly, his voice deeper than anything Silas had ever heard. “You smell like another shark. I can see why.” He practically hissed the last word out, drifting ever closer. The last of the light before the sun set was just enough for Silas to make out the scars that covered this mershark. There was one over his lip, several down his arms and even more over his tail. Some were old and white like the one Silas had properly seen on Marinus earlier and some were still healing, half scabbed and one was anything but a scar, a day old wound being delicately picked at by a couple of tiny scavenger fish.

“I-I was just leaving.” Silas began, hating how small his voice felt.

“Were you now?” The bull shark did a quick glance around. “Actually, you were heading deeper into _my_ territory.”

“Well I’ll leave so don’t –”

“Ah-ah! You were going to leave without introducing yourself? So rude. I didn’t know eels could be that way. All the ones I’ve had the pleasure of meeting were very…obliging.” 

Silas did _not_ like the sound of that. He had begun to reverse, his hands helping to push himself backwards over the rock he had been holding to keep him still, but the bull shark cut him off, circling Silas like the predator he was.

“You’re not going anywhere, eel.” He growled, teeth on show again as the noise he created was pushed from his chest.

“I’m already taken, can’t you see that?”

“Oh please, you’re out here all alone! What sort of shark did you offer yourself to that they let a beauty like you out of their sight?” Silas faltered at the question; Marinus hadn’t exactly come after him but with an even deeper sinking feeling, he recalled he wouldn’t stop Silas if he chose to leave either. Momentarily lost in that morbid thought, Silas gasped in horror and lurched away as the bull shark entered his vision. Silas was quick, but this one was quicker and the next thing he knew, there was a crushing grip around his wrist as the shark dragged him back towards the open ocean.

“Nobody will hear you scream out in the darkness, eel.” 

“No! Let me go!” Using his other hand, Silas sank his claws into the meaty wrist of the mershark, tearing four lines across it that instantly swelled with blood. The mershark cried out and in his surprise, released Silas’ wrist. Twisting around, Silas pushed himself away from his would-be captor as fast as he could, the eggs weighing him down a little but he was still fast, he knew he was. In the murky distance, the rolling shapes of sand dunes could only just be seen and the relief Silas felt upon seeing them spurred him onwards.

At least it was, until white hot pain shot up his spine that originated near the tip of his tail. Silas shrieked as his momentum was slowed by the weight of the bull shark’s teeth sinking into his fluke. Blood exploded from the wound and quick as the lightning struck the horizon, the ugly beast pushed Silas to the rocky ground. He hardly felt the impact, the way the eggs rocked around inside him or the stinging sensation of jagged edges piercing his back. All he felt was the sickening feeling of teeth retracting from the holes they made further down as strange eyes came into his vision once more.

“Little bitch, I was going to be nice to you but after that stunt, I’ve changed my mind.” A curved claw barely scraped over the roundness of Silas’ stomach. “You can watch as I cut you open and eat these weaklings for a snack.”

The shark had barely finished speaking before he was wrenched away, another form barrelling into him with such force, a rush of bubbles escaped his gills. A hiss, lighter in sound but full of hatred rippled through the water as Silas forced himself to his side and wrapped his arms protectively around himself. He couldn’t feel his tail.

The snakelike motion of a long fin glided over Silas as Marinus came into view. He positioned himself over Silas, one arm either side of him and crouching low as if ready to strike. Silas had never seen him like this, had never seen so much as a flash of irritation on his face but now it was all that adorned it. Handsome features drawn into one of disdain as he eyed the recovering bull shark.

“Get out of here, Ryker, before I add to that.” Marinus gestured at the bleeding scratches on Ryker’s arm, rage barely kept in check.

“Marinus,” the hissing sound returned as Ryker spat the name out as if it tasted sour on his tongue. “Figured you might be the one shark to knock up an eel of all things. You always did have good taste, I’ll give you that.” Silas watched as Ryker licked his lips of the remaining blood. “And this one tastes especially delicious.”

“I should kill you.” Marinus seethed, his tail flicking in response.

“You’re nothing without that whip. It’ll be like pulling out the spines from a lionfish; there’ll be nothing scary left.” Even in his pained haze, Silas could tell the word “scary” was used stingily. Ryker wasn’t afraid of Marinus when he was the bigger shark. Without any other warning, Marinus twisted to one side when Ryker threw himself forwards, a _snap_ of his jaws as he clamped on nothing.

Forcing himself to sit up as best he could, Silas half dragged and half drifted over the rocky ground, further scraping his arms but unable to feel it. He just needed to get away, back to the safety of the cave and never leave again. Behind him, the water rippled and pulsed as the two sharks fought, pained groans and hisses, peculiar growls and even a bellow that thankfully didn’t belong the Marinus was the sound that made Silas look back. Ryker clutched his arm; the truth had been spoken that the thresher shark would add to his existing arm wound. He glared daggers at Marinus, teeth bared before pushing out again towards him.

But his fury blinded him, didn’t help him see straight or think clearly as Marinus twirled on the spot so quick Silas was sure if he had blinked at that moment, he would have missed watching that tail in action as it sliced through the water with the ease of a marlin leaping above the surface. It was a whip, without a doubt, and the satisfying _crack_ it made as it connected with Ryker across his chest was loud in the otherwise dark stillness of the ocean at night. The mark it leaves is a sight to behold; a huge red gash that seems for a second isn’t sure whether to bleed like a cut or singe like a burn. Ryker howls, his agony palpable and he quickly turns tail and flees as fast as his injured body could carry him. 

In a heartbeat, Silas is being scooped up into strong arms and carried briskly through the ocean towards the cave. He feels the silky touch of kelp brush against his face and he knows he is almost there. It’s too dark to see, even for an eel such as him who enjoys the night and he blames it on the creeping delirium of pain catching up to him, making him only feel things instead of see them. The softer touch of sand and sea lettuce encases his body and Silas doesn’t resist the pull of oblivion as he finally passes out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silas works out his newfound feelings for Marinus just in time to finally see what mershark young look like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we come to the end of this little voyage into the wonderful world of writing about merfolk. I have been binge watching Our Planet, particularly focusing on the episodes that explore the ocean because it's just an insane place. It's not a very long chapter but this wasn't meant to be a long story. I hope everyone has enjoyed and maybe even learnt something!
> 
> Without a doubt, I will be writing both more merfolk drama and definitely about these two ^_^
> 
> \- HWR

Not for the first time since meeting Marinus, Silas wakes to soft smooth touches that are gentle on all his senses. He decides it’s definitely something he could get used to before realising, in a crashing wave of alertness that this is just temporary and sooner than he would like to admit he will be back in his own cave, surrounded by his own things. The move back is going to be so awkward, it’s the feeling of dread is what makes him open his eyes. An anemone covered cave ceiling is what he first sees, followed by _a lot_ of kelp. Looking down, Silas is covered in it, practically wrapped up in a bundle like he sometimes would prepare a tasty cuttlefish in his favourite seaweed as a treat. He’s so warm, he almost doesn’t want to get up.

“Silas?” It’s his thresher shark partner, a gentle yet as he’s discovered, fiercely protective creature.

“I’m alright.” Silas responds, although he isn’t sure if that’s the truth just yet. He feels exhausted, every muscle in his body aching and at the memory of Ryker the bull shark sinking his teeth into his tail, he’s afraid to look down and see what’s happened. Oddly, it doesn’t hurt as much as it probably should.

Marinus moves into his view, a small smile on his handsome face but brows drawn in worry. He comes close and puts one arm under Silas’ shoulders to help him sit up, the movement making the kelp fall away to reveal his very round belly. The pups decide to move at that moment, letting him know that they’re okay. The relief is nothing short of overwhelming.

“I’m sorry!” Silas blurts out. He can’t meet those blue-green eyes for fear of what they might hold. Is Marinus disappointed in him? Does he hate him now? Surely Silas has got to be up there with the worst parents of all time.

“Why are you sorry?” It’s all he gets asked and suddenly, it makes Silas want to cry. The back of his nose gets hot and his eyes sting. He can feel his lip quivering so he bites it with a sharp canine.

“I put them in danger,” he rests a hand on his belly. “I put everyone in danger, both of us. I’m so sorry, I really am. I just…” he takes a deep breath, gills expanding and contracting. “I might not have been bred before, but I’ve been with other mer and I haven’t felt anything like the way I do now. I want to blame my hormones making me feel things that I probably shouldn’t, that would be so much easier, but I can’t.” He chews on his lip some more as Marinus stays silent, waiting for him to continue. So he does, it’s not like he can backtrack now. “I hate the thought of leaving here, of leaving you, but I know I have to. I would lo-, I would like it if we at least stayed friends.” Silas is sure he sounds ridiculous, spewing his feelings out there like an octopus inking everywhere. Marinus still hasn’t said anything and it’s making him nervous, heartbeat pulsing away and as a result, whatever the shark had given him to ease his pain was starting to wear off.

“Oh Silas,” Marinus almost whispered. This was it, the rejection, the scolding. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say those things.”

“…huh?” Finally looking at the shark and those incredible eyes, Silas is lost for words, even more so when Marinus touches his forehead against his own. His scent is everywhere, in his head and reaching beyond his skin. Marinus is in his blood.

“You’re so beautiful, I never thought I would be as lucky to find someone like you, but here you are, sitting in my arms, in my cave, with my children inside you.” He chuckles, pulling back and brushing stray wisps of Silas’ hair out of his face then cupping his cheek like he has done so many times already.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Silas questions. Smooth, real smooth. But Marinus smiles and it lights up his face.

“Of course, I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Everything about you is so charming. At first, I just wanted to claim a rare creature like so many others in the ocean, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met. You have taken over my every thought.”

Silas can’t believe it, is he really hearing this? “I always thought pairs were the same species.” 

“That’s not true, we don’t see them because they’re so rare but it happens. Do you…think it’s happening now?” He was asking permission. Silas had laid it out, Marinus had added to it but Silas had the final say. Whatever he said now, it could change everything. Heat rises to his cheeks at the thought of always waking up and going to sleep encased by strong arms, always having those wonderful eyes look at him the way they are now, to always have a thresher shark at his back who would, without hesitation, protect him for the rest of his life. Marinus knew a great many things, was so much more experienced in life and probably had hundreds of things to share, to teach.

Silas couldn’t wait to get started.

He decides not to speak his reply, but show it instead by closing the already small gap between them and finally, finally, feeling what those plush lips feel like. They’re soft, like he imagined, but so much more. It doesn’t take Marinus but a few seconds to catch up, his initial surprise at the eel’s boldness dissipated by his own desire to return the gesture. Silas parts his lips, letting the slightly rough tongue that Marinus possesses to caress his own, deepening the kiss. The first moment they met, the very first moment that the mershark got close to him, Silas was struck with the wonder as to what this might feel like. It feels better than anything he could have imagined.

Silas hears himself moan in the back of throat, he doesn’t mean to but it just comes out uncontrollably. For a fleeting second he’s embarrassed before Marinus responds in kind. 

The developing pain in his tail as the painkillers wear off is almost forgotten and his traitorous body decides of all times, this is a great time to become aroused. Instantly, Marinus smells it. His kind are famed for smelling blood in the seawater a long way off, so having a receptive breeder right in front of them surely was no challenge. The rush of hormones and endorphins the kiss activates are enough to have Silas’ slit pulse under the pile of kelp still covering his lower body. He can practically _feel_ the slick seeping into the water before he even has a chance to catch up with what’s really happening.

He might be naïve, but he isn’t an idiot, at least not completely. Silas knows he isn’t in any real shape to have sex right now so he pulls back, breaking the kiss which for a moment, leaves Marinus leaning back in before he opens his eyes and realises its stopped. Silas’ gills bubble with laughter, but it brings Marinus back to focus.

“Let me see?” He starts moving down Silas’ body towards his tail, not really waiting for an answer but knowing there wouldn’t be any problem for him to do so. He lifts the kelp away, the makeshift blanket floating off towards the back of the cave and Silas finally gets to see what has actually happened.

“Is it bad?”

“Thankfully no, although I understand it might have felt that way. Ryker is a bit of a unique case and he has two sets of teeth in both jaws. Although his bites are deep, he only caught the edge of your fluke. I’ve covered it in an anemone that is actually a little painful on its own, but when faced with a greater pain, cancels it out.” That explained why he didn’t feel a huge amount.

The anemone in question is a puffy pinkish purple, pulled apart into strips and wrapped around the tattered end of his tail fin.

“It will heal,” Marinus confirms. “It might take a little while and will probably scar, but it will heal.”

“I guess it could have been worse.” Silas chews his lip again and Marinus looks extremely solemn.

“Yes, I’ve seen him bite things in half.”

“You sound like you know him.”

“I guess I do,” the thresher sits back after re-adjusting the anemone so it numbs the pain a little better. “We lived near each other when we were pups. He was big for his age even then. Before last night, I had not seen him in years but I often hear about him being a brute. I guess mers don’t change.” Marinus shrugs and the action draws Silas’ attention to his shoulders.

“You’re hurt!” Marinus has a gash over his right shoulder. Made up of two jagged lines, it doesn’t look that deep but it’s blood red and angry looking.

“It’s really nothing,” Marinus assures. “I’ve had a lot worse.” He makes a crude gesture to his back, to the old scar that Silas had seen properly just yesterday and he relaxes a little. The new wound doesn’t seem to be bothering Marinus and isn’t bleeding like a stuck fish, so he takes the shark’s word for it and says nothing further about it.

The pups inside him, slowly having become more active as they get to the limit of the egg stage, shift and flicker inside him. The action is so great that Silas can see it beneath his skin and he instantly cups his stomach, his heart clenching in affection. Marinus does the same, both hands resting on the mound before he lowers his face to press one ear just below his navel.

“They’re so close to hatching,” he says distantly. “I can sense it.”

“What will happen to their shells?”

“They will dissolve into nothing. It will hardly be a few days after that before they decide to make their way into the world.” Marinus is in awe, even though he has done this multiple times. “I can’t wait to meet them.” He finishes quietly.

Silas has to agree; two rare species coming together has him wondering not only what their offspring will look like, but what they will be capable of. They will be sharks and closely resemble their father, but what will their colouration be? What will their personalities be like? What natural skills will they possess?

His pleasant pondering is stopped when he sees the mischievous grin that Marinus has plastered to his face. He quirks a brow at the shark, he’s up to something, but Silas isn’t sure what. Marinus kisses under his navel and before he begins kissing his way down.

Just what in the seven seas is he doing!?

Silas only gets half of that question out before Marinus’ mouth has covered his slit. The pleasurable reaction is instant; nobody has ever touched Silas in this way before. He didn’t even know that this was a thing! All his thoughts about how _odd_ or _strange_ this might be are thrown out of the cave, his brain ready to short-circuit when the slightly rough tongue of a mershark licks along his folds, parting them with his tongue and humming in satisfaction as they easily part.

Bubbles rush from his gills in a spurt that has them congregating on the cave ceiling as Silas throws his head back and gasps so harshly, it might actually have been a scream. Marinus’ tongue, although not particularly long, is slightly rough in texture and it’s more than dextrous enough to part his folds and lick his way inside him. Silas can’t even begin to compare to anything else as to how this might feel. His mind is blank with pleasure as Marinus, like several other times, has his way with him and Silas loves every minute. It’s just before he crashes over the peak of orgasm that he realises he has the rest of his life to feel this way. 

***

Like so many things he has been right about since they met, Marinus’ words that the pups were ready to hatch ring true when all Silas can feel one afternoon, is the strange wriggling sensation deep inside him. It’s tentative at first, delicate, as if the babies’ had yet to realise their eggshells had finally dissolved and they were free to move around a little more. But once they figured it out, Silas was quite sure they were trying to swap sleeping arrangements inside him. Their movements weren’t exactly harsh or painful, more persistent and determined.

Thankfully, they quieted at night and allowed him to rest. Silas didn’t feel comfortable leaving the cave anymore, his instincts telling him that it was almost time to give birth and the safest place to do so was in the cave. Or more specifically, in the sandy bed at the back that consisted of all the kelp Marinus had provided plus extra sea lettuce. For whatever reason, the smooth touch of the vegetation calmed Silas when he thought too much about the incoming pain of birth. Only Marinus and his powerful but gentle hands, massaged away his aches and worries whenever he needed him to. 

“They’re strong,” Silas heard him whisper into the darkness of the second day after hatching, one hand feeling the flutters of life within. “They might even arrive tomorrow, who knows?” The thought makes Silas’ heart race with excitement and nerves, a strange combination.

It ends up being on the fourth day since the babies had hatched that he finally feels it. A sharp jab, like catching a fin on sharp coral, it begins deep in his belly far from his touch but slowly spreads outwards like the reaching arms of a starfish. It takes his breath away and he sinks like a stone to the kelp bed, crushing the greenery in clenched fists. 

“Marinus!” The thresher shark is never far, especially now. It’s only a few seconds since he yelled his name but feels much longer when Marinus rushes into the cave and finds Silas ready to enter full on panic mode. “They’re coming, they’re coming, oh tides, they are _coming._ ” Silas emphasises the last word, fixing his partner with the most irritated look he can manage.

“Hey, hey, calm down, it’s alright,” Marinus moves behind Silas, encouraging the eel to relax against him chest to back. “Don’t fight it, try and relax.” That sounded much easier said than done to Silas, but he did the best he could. The contractions he was feeling were slow in their build, cresting like a great wave, before crashing over him and consuming his senses. It’s not overly painful, more of an ache that won’t persist, not until all five pups are born and it’s becoming more relentless. Silas can feel them shifting, certain they’re facing downwards towards his cervix and creating the pressure he can feel as they decide who will go first. Resting his head back against Marinus’ shoulder, he takes deep breaths, the seawater rushing past his gills in bursts. He feels like he _knows_ what to do, despite this being his first time. The deep breaths he takes help ease the aches, makes the pressure in his deepest region greater as his muscles relax and help the pup’s journey into the world easier.

Marinus’ hands run over Silas’ belly, feeling the movement of long caudal fins like his own. In response, they double their efforts and then, in a rush of fluid tinged slightly red, the first pup emerges. Silas gasps at the sensation, only gets a moment to look down and see the newborn twisting around in the cave trying to orient itself before the second is pushed from his body.

His cervix is loose now, loose enough for the other three to join their siblings with a strong contraction that makes Silas groan in pain with gritted teeth. It’s by far the most pain he has felt yet, but it’s thankfully the last of it and Silas lets his full weight rest back against the mershark behind him. Hard worked muscles aching, he hears confused cries and his closed eyes snap open.

Silas is amazed for a moment by his now flat stomach, but his awe increases tenfold when he sees five baby mersharks clustered together by his hip. Marinus is already moving now that Silas is sitting up by himself, and he gathers the babies into his arms to bring them closer to Silas.

“Say hello.” Marinus whispers to him, his voice so full of love and adoration it makes Silas’ heart clench, his affection blooming in his chest as he looks from Marinus to his new children. Three boys and two girls, their colouring is a pale grey that blends into a deeper shade of yet to properly form patterns; it matches what Silas has almost perfectly.

“They’re so beautiful.” Silas raises a hand to touch them, five pairs of curious eyes figuring out who he is before they realise. With remarkable co-ordination, they push off Marinus’ arm and float over to cuddle against his chest. Silas knows that he will have a lot of trouble when they decide to leave, shark young are not the dependant sort. But for now, he will take what he can get.

They’re as inquisitive as he expected children to be yet surprisingly not as demanding as he assumed. Marinus claimed it was simply how sharks were; they will eat anything. When Silas’ tail wound had healed enough for him to swim without it hurting, he took turns with Marinus to go hunting. His speciality was crustaceans and shellfish while Marinus focused on the lightning quick fish that amassed in shoals nearer the surface. It was strange at first, gathering more food than was necessary, but Silas wasn’t feeding just himself anymore.

Everything they did for the first handful of days was a turn-taking dance until the pups were a little over a week old and had grown bored of the cave. They wanted to see what was outside of it. It was as exciting for Silas as it was nerve-wracking as he watched the pups gracefully swim out of the cave and began investigating what was going on. But the pros outweighed the cons as Silas showed his young where to find crabs hidden in the corals and how to de-shell them. He watched Marinus teach them to use their caudal fins as the weapon it was, taught them to use their unique sense of smell to pick up the faintest trace of a scent in the currents. Silas taught them how to hide in the corals and rocks, reminding them that although they were small now and it was easy to hide, they wouldn’t always be that way forever and their unique colouring would help them camouflage in the future.

Silas tries his best to hide his dismay when the children keep swimming off for longer periods and begin taking longer each time to return to the cave when darkness begins to fall. He hears Marinus’ words at the start of all this echo in his thoughts, _try not to get too attached._ Silas knew it would be difficult, understood it would be hard.

“I know it’s hard but I promise it gets easier each time, darling,” Marinus held Silas close to him on the night when finally, none of the children had returned. They had left to make their own way, as they were destined to do. “It’s likely you will see them again, sharks don’t forget where we came from.” He was right, of course he was, and the thought that they have done all they can to teach them as much as possible to survive in the unforgiving ocean, enabling them to potentially meet again when they’re older is the only thing that warms Silas’ heart and makes the tears slow.

His chin is tilted up, lips captured in a deep kiss that takes his breath away. Everything feels better with Marinus around, when his arms hold Silas close at night, when his hand guides him over the reef or when his tail is wrapped around his own in the midst of passion. He can hardly wait for the next breeding season and the chance to raise another clutch of young.

For it will happen all over again next season, of that Silas has no doubt. In these waters, it’s already been proven to him that anything can happen.


End file.
